Shelves and drawers

This set of storage units followed Norm Abram’s plans from New Yankee Workshop first broadcast 2/12/1994.Unfortunately the video is no longer available. I falled in my efforts to get a copy of the video- see blog elsewhere.I decided to take up the challenge without the video and trust Norm’s measurements and drawings to lead me in the right direction- and they did.

Instead of the white oak suggested in the plans, I decided to use southern yellow pine. It matches what is already in the room and besides, I had plenty on hand. I induced a serious challenge when I decided to use BC pine ply wood. The plywood was very sensitive to moisture changes and seemed to change shape every night.

The project is comprised of 2 base units and 1 shelf unit. The base units are 36” wide, 30” tall, and 18 3/8” deep. The shelf unit is 54” tall, 36” wide and 12” deep. Basic construction followed a tongue/groove and dado construction. The plywood is banded with 1/2” X 3/4” pine applied using tongue/groove method. This includes the base tops, the drawer fronts, the face frame on the shelf unit and the doors. The shelves are banded on front side by 1 1/4” X 1” pine for strength.

Drawer boxes are constructed by 1/2” baltic birch ply, and are dovetailed at the front of each drawer. These were my first dovetails using Porter Cable dovetail jig- I thought they came out very nicely. I used full extension slides.Doors are hinged by Euro types, and are full overlay.

Finish was MUCH sanding, fruitwood stain and 2 coats of poly varnish.

A fun and chalenging project for me, and the biggest lesson was use of BC ply. I won’t do that again…